Rise of the Marauders
by evilabed
Summary: 6th year AU starting at the Battle at the Ministry. Neville is the BWL. When Voldemort arrives at the Ministry Dumbledore is nowhere to be found, leaving two fugitives and a 5th year to fight him on their own.
1. Chapter 1

**Rise of the Marauders**

Chapter 1

Harry quickly dove to the side, landing hard as he narrowly avoiding a Killing Curse that had been aimed at his head before replying with a trio of blasting curses, cursing as his opponent nonchalantly blocked all three curses and sent a pair back at him without even a glance in his direction. He dodged the first one and raised a shield against the second, grunting in pain as it broke through. Luckily his shield had taken weakened it enough so that it only left a shallow gash down his side. He panted heavily as he readied himself for the next volley, only to find it not forthcoming. Instead the dark lord stood across from him, his wand held lazily in his right hand as he surveyed the three men facing him.

"Well, I must say I am impressed," Voldemort said, studying them closely as they tried to regain their breath. "Not many wizards would have the courage to face me in such a manner. Even fewer have the skill. You could all go far if you chose to join me instead of pursuing this foolishness." He gestured towards Remus, adopting a benevolent tone, "Lupin, with my help you could become the most powerful werewolf in the world and gain your revenge against Greyback for turning you into to monster you are today," he offered, causing Remus to snarl in response. "No? What of you, Black? Are you sick of hiding yet? Sick of fighting for people who would want nothing more than to send you to the Dementors?" He gestured behind him towards the unconscious form of Bellatrix Lestrange, "You've already defeated my second in command. A man with your talent could go far amongst-"

Sirius cut him off, "Stick a cork in it Snake Lips, there is nothing you can say that would ever make me join you," he said causing Harry to grin in spite of the seriousness of their situation.

His grin was short lived however as the Dark Lord turned his attention towards him, causing his pulse to race as he spoke, "And what of you, young Potter? I never thought I would see the day when a Fifth year would have the courage to fight me. Even Longbottom over there ran like a coward the moment he had a chance," he said, causing Harry to look over his shoulder to where Neville sat, partially hidden behind the remains of the destroyed fountain. Harry's hope of him joining the fight faded as he watched the famous Boy-Who-Lived cower in agony at the very presence of his enemy, his wand forgotten at his side. "But not only did you join the fight willingly, you managed to survive. With the proper training you could become one of the greatest wizards of all time and rule the world at my side."

Harry opened his mouth to respond, but no noise came out. Swallowing heavily he tried again, "Join you?" he asked angrily, "You want me to join you? You killed my parents you stupid son of a bitch, I'd rather die than join you."

"I'm sure that can be arranged boy," snarled Voldemort as he raised his wand, causing each of the Marauder's to prepare themselves for a barrage of curses that never came. Instead Voldemort twirled his wand around his head, causing the fires scattered throughout the Ministry atrium to grow. Harry shot a worried look at his guardians, one he found mirrored in their eyes. They could only watch in horror as the fires began to flow towards the Dark Lord, coalescing at his feet into a snake made of pure flame.

Harry felt himself slowly edging backwards as his mind fought to think up a spell to fight the flaming monstrosity, but nothing he could think of would stand a chance. While he was advanced for his age, he was still only fifteen. The only spell above NEWT level he knew was the Patronus charm and he doubted any magic commonly taught to school children would stop that beast. He looked over at Moony and Padfoot, but both of them seemed to be having a similar dilemma. A massive Transfiguration was what they needed to fight this thing, but sadly it had been his father that had been the Transfiguration master in the group. While the other two Marauder's had been adept at Transfiguration, he seriously doubted either of them were up to creating something capable of fighting the monstrosity facing them. He could feel the panic clawing at the edge of his mind as Voldemort seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"Regretting your words now boy or would you still rather die than join me?" he asked, as he slowly advanced on the three Marauders, reveling in his triumph. "And what of you two? Do you regret your decisions? You could have been the greatest of my followers, yet instead you insist on giving your lives for those who would see you destroyed," he said, laughing as the two older Marauders launched spells at him and his beast. Neither seemed to have any effect as the flaming serpent ignored all efforts to slow it, while Voldemort himself blocked their attempts with contempt.

Harry's mind raced through all the spells he knew as he backed through the remains of the fountain, his sneakers becoming soaked as he stepped through the puddles. His fear seemed to be rattling his brain, as no matter what he considered, his mind always returned to his Patronus. He looked backwards to find Neville almost at his side lying against a pile of rubble, still unable to rise or even hold his wand. If he backed up any farther Neville would be defenseless. He turned back towards Voldemort as the snake in front of him reached the edge of the puddle, throwing up a cloud of steam, yet otherwise unaffected by the large pool of water. The Dark Lord was still laughing as Moony and Padfoot tried desperately to slow his advance, to no avail. With no other option Harry raised his wand and cast the only spell he could think of. Prongs burst from the end of his wand, causing the Dark Lord's laughter to change from maniacal to amusement. "Amusing Potter, did you think I could be scared off like a pitiful dementor? The fear you feel is not artificial, nor is it pulled from the recesses of your mind. The fear you feel is real, it is the fear of death, of facing the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen. Do you really think your pitiful Patronus could hurt me? Or did you wish to give your father once last look at his pitiful son before I extinguish your line forever?"

Harry ignored him, focusing instead on the object contained in his front pocket and the potential future it could bring in an attempt to strengthen Prongs as much as possible. He felt the drain on his magic and pushed as much as he could into it. In front of him Prongs grew brighter, until he shone like the moon.

"Impressive Potter, truly impressive," said Voldemort, striding forward in the wake of his fiery construct, "But as I already told you, I am no dementor. However strong your happy little memory, I will crush it, just as I will crush you."

As Prongs stopped growing the drain on his magic lowered and he prepared himself for the second part of his spell. Six months of research and two months of attempts had yet to produce any results, but it was his only shot. It was guardians only shot and he refused to let Moony and Padfoot die, not now, not when he was so close to clearing their names. Holding his happy thought, he allowed himself to concentrate on the water surrounding him, feeling it flowing around his feet, hearing the steady stream spraying from the broken fountain and smelling the moisture in the air. He allowed his senses to drink it in before turning his wand on Prongs, "PATRONUM NATURA INUNDO!"

Moony and Padfoot halted their attack and watched speechlessly as the water throughout the Atrium reversed it's flow, and began running towards the glowing stag. Voldemort's laughter stopped as Prongs grew. Within moments Prongs was eye to eye with the snake. He snorted, pawing the ground and sending silver droplets flying as he waited for his master's command.

Voldemort watched, speechless for a moment at this new development before a snarl washed over his face, "DIE POTTER!" he yelled, apparently tired of his game. His snake snapped forward, attempting to finish Harry before he could react. Prongs however didn't need any urging, leaping into the battle and catching the serpent's neck in his antlers. Harry felt the drain as the two beasts collided, bringing him to his knees. However hard he had pushed his magic earlier, it was _nothing_ compared to how he felt now. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears as he tried to hold on, pushing as much of his magic as he could into Prongs. Yet still his Patronus fell back, forced backwards by the flaming monstrosity. He struggled to maintain his creation, knowing that he wouldn't have a chance to cast another, but no matter how much power he pushed into it, he couldn't hold back the snake. He could feel Prongs wavering, slowly losing his shape as the battle of wills continued.

Just as he was about to break, the pressure let up, allowing Prongs to shove the serpent back. Looking up, Harry saw the cause through the steam as Voldemort held a shield against a barrage. Looking over, Harry saw Moony and Padfoot firing spells faster and harder than they ever had in their life, taking the fight to the Dark Lord. Even as Harry watched, the Voldemort's snake seemed to shrink a little, the intensity of it's flames diminishing as he turned his attention towards the elder Marauder's. Unwilling to let his guardians face him on their own, Harry turned back towards his Patronus as it regained it's form. Aiming his wand at the bastard that had killed his parents, Harry didn't bother with an incantation, "CHARGE!"

Prongs leaped forward, catching Voldemort's serpent unawares. Unable to attack Harry due to the battling leviathans, he was forced to maintain his serpent while simultaneously fighting both Moony and Padfoot. With his attention split between two separate battles, the Marauder's pushed forward, throwing Voldemort back.

Despite his greater skill and knowledge, Voldemort found himself on the defensive. Unable to overcome the stag, he switched his focus to the elder Marauders in an attempt to overpower them. Sensing his inattentiveness, Prongs charged forward, twisting his head at the last moment and catching the snake with the tips of his antlers. All four combatants fell to their knees, throwing their hands over their ears as the serpent let out it's death cry.

Harry stood up slowly as the fiery serpent faded from view. Voldemort glared at him as he too regained his feet, finally showing signs of fatigue. He wasted no time in renewing his attack, "Avada Kedavra!" However he did not account for Prongs intercepting the spell as he charged the dark lord. Harry saw his eyes widen as the Patronus absorbed the killing curse without a hitch. Dark curses rained down on Prongs, littering the ground in sprays of water, but the proud stag continued it's charge. A flash lit up the battle just as Voldemort was forced to leap to the side, directly into the path of one of Padfoot's blasting curses. The dark lord hit the ground hard, but regained his feet quickly, his hand holding his ribs in pain. He raised his wand to retaliate, only to stop as another flash lit the area, a look of surprise crossing his face as he looked to the side.

Harry turned, following his gaze to find that they were no longer alone. Standing on the edge of the battle stood close to two dozen people, led by none other than the Minister of Magic himself, all frozen in shock at the sight of the battle before them. Voldemort sent one last look of hatred at the three Marauder's, before summoning Bellatrix and disappearing with a swirl of his cloak.

Harry watched the spot Voldemort had disappeared from in disbelief. He had survived. They had all survived. But not only had they survived they had _won_. They had forced Voldemort to retreat. Only Dumbledore had ever been able to do that before, but today they had managed it. Prongs turned towards him, giving a slight bow before disappearing, leaving only a puddle in his wake. His relief at their victory was short lived.

"It's Black and Lupin, seize them!" cried the Minister, prompting half a dozen Aurors to advance on the two exhausted Marauder's. Harry couldn't believe it, they had just dueled Voldemort himself in the middle of the Ministry and the Minister was still intent on arresting them. Remus and Sirius quickly began backing away, but it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. With Voldemort gone their adrenaline had worn off and the exhaustion and all the wounds they had recieved were taking their toll. Remus was limping noticeably, while Sirius looked like he could barely raise his wand. "Someone go get the Dementors, at the very least we will do something right tonight."

Harry quickly looked around for help and noticed Dumbledore hurrying towards them from the elevators, "Professor Dumbledore, you have to do something, Remus and Sirius are innocent!" he pleaded desperately.

Dumbledore looked down at him, "I'm sorry Mr Potter, but there is nothing I can do," he said sadly. Harry looked at him in shock. He couldn't believe it, Dumbledore knew that they were both innocent, knew they were on his side and yet for some reason he refused to help. He turned back towards the coming fight as the Aurors slowly closed in on his fellow Marauders. They were back to back now as the Aurors had moved to surround them. He looked around, hoping desperately for help but none seemed to be forthcoming. Dumbledore had proven to be useless. Longbottom, while likely to regain his celebrity status was currently being helped to his feet by Granger and didn't look to be in a state to help anyone anytime soon. The only Auror from the Order still on her feet was the young female one, who he was fairly certain was a rookie and didn't have the pull required to slow, let alone halt this.

Seeing the Aurors preparing to make their move Harry ran, moving faster than he had ever moved in his life, "NOBODY MOVE!" he shouted, causing everyone to turn to him in surprise. What they found however surprised them even more as they turned to find a fifteen year old had the Minister on his knees with a knife to his throat and a wand to the back of his head. He continued more calmly, "If any of you make a move the Minister loses his head."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"HARRY NO!" shouted Moony, his face stricken as the Aurors surrounding him turned their wands towards his honorary godson, "We'll find another way out, get yourself out of here!"

Harry shook his head vehemently, "I'm not going anywhere without you two. I've spent two years waiting to clear your names, I'm not going to let them kill you now," he said, inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm his nerves as more than half a dozen wands spun towards him. "All of you back away slowly with your hands in the air," he said, nodding to the corner away from the exit, "NOW!" He swallowed hard as they ignored his command, "Stop now or else!" he shouted, beginning to panic as five Aurors, four that had encircled Moony and Padfoot, and the pink-haired one that had come with Dumbledore moved to surround him instead.

The Auror in charge moved forward slowly, careful not to do anything that might make Harry do something drastic, "Don't do anything stupid kid," he said, "it still isn't too late for you. As long as you don't hurt the Minister we may even be able to keep you out of Azkaban."

Harry quickly suppressed the dread he felt at the thought of being kept in that prison, spending months on end in the presence of the Dementors. Unable to defend himself, trapped as his worst memories replayed themselves over and over. He plastered a grin on his face in an attempt to hide his fear, "Well then, it's just my lucky day, isn't it?" he asked cheerfully. "Lower your wands, let us walk out of here and I'll make sure to return your Minister to you, good as new."

"Not a chance Potter!" Fudge cried, apparently having found his voice at last. "Don't you dare let Black and Lupin out of here Scrimgeour or I'll have your- Ah!" he cut off in pain as Harry kneed him in the back, knocking the wind from him and prompting one of the junior Aurors to fire a spell, forcing him to throw up a shield.

"Hold your fire!" shouted Scrimgeour, attempting to regain control of the situation. "You know we can't do that Potter, Black and Lupin are wanted fugitives. If You-Know-Who is really back we can't let his most trusted followers return to him, can we?"

"No, of course you can't," Harry replied, acting more calmly than he felt. He had barely gotten that shield up in time, he wasn't sure if he could do it again. The only chance he had was to talk his way out of this, "Though I would think nearly two dozen people witnessing him attempt to murder us is pretty good evidence that none of us are Death Eaters."

Scrimgeour's face scrunched up, obviously having overlooked that fact in the commotion caused by the Dark Lord's return, "If Black isn't a Death Eater, then who is responsible for his crimes?" asked Scrimgeour carefully as he considered his claim.

"Oh no, not this ridiculous tale again," Fudge interjected derisively, "Pettigrew is dead Potter. Black is the one responsible for those murders. Black is the one responsible for your parents death. And if You-Know-Who has truly returned, Black is the one responsible for that as well."

"You truly believe that? Despite three eye witnesses claiming otherwise? Despite the fact that you just saw him try to kill us?" Harry demanded angrily, as the entire Atrium watched intently. "Remus and I told you two years ago that Pettigrew was still alive and that he was the one responsible for all of Sirius' crimes. And what did you do with that information? You ignored it!" His attention on Fudge, he didn't notice the looks of alarm as he increased the pressure on the knife pressed to Fudge's neck hard enough to draw a trickle of blood. "You didn't even attempt to find out the real story! Instead you took Snape, a man that hates my godfather more than anything, at his word because if it got out that you had ordered the Dementor's Kiss on an innocent man it would ruin your career. So rather than risk that, you decided Remus had to die, because let's face it, even if the story did get out that you had him killed the wizarding public couldn't care less about the death of one werewolf." Harry turned his attention back towards the crowd as reporters quills flew across their parchment.

Fudge turned his attention to the crowd of reporters he had brought with him,"Was I supposed to take the word of a teenager and a beast over that of a respected Professor?" he demanded, hardly pausing before answering his own question, "No. Black has clouded your mind with his lies and deceit. He is responsible for those deaths, just as he will be responsible for more if we do not stop him now."

"Did he cloud Longbottom's mind as well? He told you last year that not only had Voldemort returned, but that it was Pettigrew, not Sirius, that was responsible. Yet once again you ignored the evidence in favor of burying your head in the sand. You even had the only other witness Kissed to cover up the evidence," Harry looked at the shocked faces surrounding him. Fudge and Dumbledore had obviously done a good job in covering up Crouch's death as it seemed that even the Head Auror seemed to be caught unaware by the information. "Does the Minister now have the authority of judge, jury and executioner?" he asked, directing the question more at those surrounding him than the Minister himself.

"That man was a raving lunatic that confessed to the murder of his own father!" Fudge exclaimed heatedly. Harry grinned as the Minister realized that he had likely just ended his own career by admitting to having a prisoner executed in front of both the press and the Head Auror. Coupled with Voldemort's return the wizarding public would be clamoring for his resignation by lunch tomorrow.

"Does that preclude him from a trial? From being sentenced by his peers?" he asked as the press whispered to each other, "And what of the information he had? He admitted to being responsible for the events that occurred during the Third Task, should he not have been questioned? He could have confirmed Longbottom's accusation that not only had Voldemort returned, but that it was Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black that was responsible."

"Pettigrew is dead as he has been for more than fourteen years!" Fudge shouted angrily.

Harry looked down at the Minister in grim satisfaction, pocketing his knife before gesturing to Scrimgeour, "You. Come here," he said motioning her forward, before reaching in to his pocket, "Catch."

He reacted out of instinct, catching the object he threw at her, "What the hell is this?" he demanded.

"Pettigrew," Harry replied simply, causing all those surrounding him to stare at him in a combination of shock, confusion and disbelief. "He's an Animagus," he explained, rolling his eyes as he looked at him skeptically, "See for yourself."

With one more skeptical look, Scrimgeour waved his wand at the rat in his hand, jumping back in surprise as it froze in midair, it's small form twisting madly before resolving into that of a short, grubby man. Not a sound was made in the Atrium as everyone save the three Marauder's was frozen in shock. Even Fudge seemed speechless as he hung his head in defeat.

Sirius was the first to break the silence, "Traitor! I'll kill you, you backstabbing son of a bitch!" he shouted as he moved towards the rat, only to be thrown to the ground and bound by the Auror that had been guarding him. Remus, who had moved to stop him, followed a moment later.

Harry moved to help them out of reflex, only to realize his mistake a moment later as he was quickly disarmed and bound by the surrounding Aurors. He struggled futilely against his bonds for a moment, before falling to his knees in defeat. He could only watch as Fudge got shakily to his feet with the help of one of the Aurors. "Get the Dementors now!" he demanded, pushing the young Auror towards the elevators, "I want all three of them Kissed within the hour!"

"Hold Turner," said Scrimgeour, stopping him before he could head towards the detention cells, "no one is being Kissed here today."

"What do you think you're doing Rufus?" demanded Fudge, "I'll have your job for this!"

"I think you should be more worried about your own job Cornelius," Scrimgeour replied, wearing a smug grin. "In fact, you should be more worried about making sure that you aren't taking their place. Turner, Tonks, arrest the Minister."

Fudge's eyes opened in shock as he too was quickly disarmed and bound, "What do you think you're doing? What is the meaning of this?"

"You just admitted to having a prisoner executed without a trial Fudge. Did you really think we would ignore that?" asked Scrimgeour, a predatory gleam in his eye as he looked at the soon to be former Minister before turning to his Aurors, "Take them down to courtroom ten. The Wizengamot will sort out this mess."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"_Colloportus!_" Hermione gasped, leaning against the door as it sealed itself.

"What – what happened to Ron, Gin and Luna?" asked Neville, his head between his knees as he gasped for breath.

Hermione looked around. Ron, Ginny and Luna had been ahead of them, they should have been waiting in this room, but the two of them were alone. "They must have taken a wrong turn," she whispered, unable to hide the terror in her voice as she contemplated the danger her friends were now in.

"Bloody hell..." Neville cursed, "We need to go back for them," he said, moving to undo the locking spell she had placed on the door, but Hermione cut him off as she heard a commotion on the other side.

"Shh, listen," she hissed.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door. "Split into groups and search! The prophecy is our first concern, do nothing that could risk it. Longbottom belongs to the Dark Lord, but you may kill the others if you wish. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan go left – Pettigrew, Jugson and Dolohov straight, Macnair, Avery and Nott head over there – Mulciber, Rookwood with me!"

Hermione pulled her ear from the door, "What do we do?" she asked quietly, unable to hide the tremor in her voice.

"We get the bloody hell out of here," Neville hissed back at her, before he grabbed her by an elbow and began running as quickly as possible for the nearest exit. They had almost reached it when something large collided with the door she had charmed shut.

"Out of the way Jugson," said a deep voice with a heavy accent. "_Bombarda!_"

Hermione and Neville dove under a nearby desk as the door exploded inwards. Hermione held her breath as three sets of Death Eater feet moved in their direction.

"They must have run straight through the hall," said one voice.

"No, they're probably hiding," argued a second.

"Check under the desks," came the order from the one with the accent, "but make it quick. We can't allow Longbottom to escape with the Prophecy."

Hermione could see the feet of one of the Death Eaters approaching. While she didn't like the odds of the two of them going against three adults, it didn't look like they would have much of a choice in the matter. She looked at Neville, who nodded in agreement. Poking her wand out from under the desk, she took careful aim, hoping to even the odds, but someone else cast a spell before she was able to.

"_Bombarda!_" came the cry from a fourth voice, giving only a moments notice before the desk shook under the force of the spell, knocking her and Neville to the ground. They quickly jumped to their feet, unwilling to allow themselves to be captured without a proper fight. Preparing herself for the worst, Hermione popped out from the side of the desk with a spell on her lips, only for that spell to die as she froze in surprise. Rather than four Death Eaters raining down spells on the two of them or their friends having come to their rescue she had popped up to find two Death Eaters locked in a duel with Harry Potter of all people. She looked around for the third Death Eater, only to find him laying in a heap, limbs pointed in odd directions.

She broke from her trance as she heard Neville shout a spell from her side, joining the fight and taking some of the attention off their outmatched classmate. "_Stupefy!_" she shouted, deciding to wonder where Potter had come from later and joining Neville as they tried to overwhelm their opponent before his partner could finish off theirs. Back and forth they traded spells, causing Hermione to worry as they were unable to push through his defenses. She risked a quick glance over to where Potter was dueling the other Death Eater just in time to see him dodge a Killing Curse. She swallowed hard before re-doubling her efforts. She and Neville had been two of the best duelists in the DA, if the two of them couldn't overwhelm this single Death Eater, she wasn't sure how long Potter would be able to last.

"_Impedimenta!_" came the curse from the Death Eater, forcing her to duck back behind the desk. Neville on the other hand wasn't so lucky as he was knocked backwards off his feet, smashing hard into the bookshelf behind him. Despite the urge to rush over and check on him, Hermione forced herself to ignore her injured friend. "_Accio Proph –_ "

"_Silencio!_" she shouted as she came back out from behind the desk, catching her masked assailant off guard as he tried to summon the prophecy from Neville. She smirked at him before turning to help her fallen friend. She realized her mistake almost immediately as she noticed a streak of purple flying towards her out of the corner of her eye. With no time to raise a shield she watched helplessly as the purple flame flew towards her, only to be blocked at the last possible instant as a shield materialized in front of her. A moment later her attacker was soaring through the air, coming to a halt as he met the stone wall.

She felt an hand grab her arm as Potter moved into her field of vision, glasses askew and a small trail of blood running down his cheek, but otherwise unharmed, "Granger, come on, we need to go! Granger! GRANGER!"

OoOoO

"Granger!" Hermione was torn from her flashback with a start. Looking around she noticed that the compartment was open and standing there was Ernie MacMillan, one of the Hufflepuff prefects.

She looked around the compartment noticing that everyone except Luna, who was busy reading this month's copy of the Quibbler, was looking at her funny, even Ron who was still in the process of rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "Sorry about that, I was just... thinking," she said after a short pause.

Ron snorted loudly, causing Ernie to look at him in disgust, "Blimey, must have been some interesting thoughts," he said, "The prat managed to wake me up before he got your attention."

Hermione looked at the Hufflepuff, who seemed to be trying to burn a hole through Ron with his eyes. Ron however seemed oblivious and after a few moments Ernie gave up. "I have invitations for you Granger and one for Longbottom as well," he said, holding up three scrolls of parchment, before handing one each to her and Neville.

Surprised and confused, Hermione unrolled hers.

_Ms. Granger,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C at 1 o'clock._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_

"Who's Professor Slughorn?" asked Ginny, looking perplexedly at Neville's invitation over his shoulder, "And what does he want with you two?"

"Slughorn's the new teacher that Dumbledore took me to recruit," Neville explained, "but I'm not sure what he wants with us."

"I would assume that he probably wants the same thing he wants with the rest of us," Ernie said, puffing out his chest more than usual. "He sent out invitations to a number of the more influential students."

Ginny sat up, leaning forward from her spot beside Neville in an attempt to read the name on the remaining invitation, "So who's the last invitation for?" she asked curiously.

"This one is for Potter," he said, causing Ron to frown in jealousy, "but I've already been up and down the train and I can't find him. I was hoping he would be here with the rest of the Six," replied Ernie, looking around as if expecting Harry Potter to pop out of one of the seat cushions.

"The Six?" Neville asked confusedly.

"That's the name the Daily Prophet has been calling us," replied Luna, finally having been disrupted from her reading, "all six students that went with you to the Ministry. The Ministry Six."

"Then shouldn't we be the Ministry Five? Potter didn't come with us, he showed up on his own," Ron said bitterly, causing Hermione to sigh in exasperation. Every time Potter had come up in conversation over the summer Ron had become dour and irritable, his inferiority complex having no doubt found a new target since the photo of Potter's stag charging Voldemort had adorned the front of the Prophet. The new rumors popping up certainly hadn't helped, as stories ranging from Potter and his guardians being heroes that would defeat Voldemort once and for all, to it all being an elaborate hoax meant to clear Black kept them in the paper every other day.

Deciding to ignore Ron until they were alone, Hermione turned her attention back towards the Hufflepuff, "We haven't seen him Ernie, but my patrol is coming up. I could deliver his invitation for you," she offered, causing Ron's scowl to deepen.

"Thank you Hermione," he said, handing her the third scroll, "I hope to see you there. My father told me about Slughorn and suffice it to say, it would be very beneficial for both you and Longbottom to attend."

Ron waited until Ernie had left before snorting loudly, "Pompous prat. Suffice it to say he should remove the stick from his arse," he said, chuckling at his own joke. "As if any of us actually want to go spend time with some stuffy old professor, right Nev?"

Neville shrugged slightly and avoided looking at the redhead, "I think I have to," he said uncomfortably, "Dumbledore wanted me to get close to him. Apparently he has some important information."

Ron scowled for just a moment before it vanished, "Well I guess you have to go if Dumbledore needs you. It's too bad you'll miss our lunch though, I bet Slughorn serves liver and onions or something. Yuck."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation, "Ron, I don't think candy and snack cakes can be considered lunch," she said disapprovingly. Even after five years she had yet to convince him that candy was supposed to be eaten in moderation, instead having to watch as he ordered some of almost everything on the snack cart.

Ron rolled his eyes at her, "You won't be saying that when we're making our way through half the snack cart."

"What makes you think that I won't be going with Neville?" she asked.

He looked at her as if she had lost her mind, "Why would you want to do that?" he demanded.

"Because it's a fantastic opportunity. I asked a few of the Order members about Slughorn after Neville mentioned Dumbledore recruiting him to teach this year and they all said that he was a master of networking. His club could open up all sorts of doors for the future," she explained, watching Ron's face darken at every word.

"Fine, you two go rub elbows with all the other pompous gits, see if I care," he said bitterly, "And don't forget Potter, that is if he doesn't ignore you again."

She sighed, "This again? He was in hiding. Professor Dumbledore couldn't contact him, Black or Professor Lupin all summer. Why do you think he would respond to us and not Dumbledore?" she asked, "It isn't like he was purposefully sending our letters back unopened, he probably wasn't even getting them."

"Of course he didn't get them, he's much too important to read mail from us," Ron said mockingly, "he survives a fight with You-Know-Who for all of five seconds and he thinks he's Merlin's gift to wizarding kind."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue with him, but decided against it. Trying to make Ron see reason when he was in one of his moods was like hitting your head against a stone wall, you were likely to end up with a headache. Instead she left their compartment, deciding to start her Prefect rounds a few minutes early. If she was lucky she would find Potter quickly, giving her a chance to question him a little before they left for Slughorn's lunch.

Everything was going smoothly, which was why she wasn't surprised by the shouting she heard as soon as she opened the door to the final train car. She recognized Malfoy's voice immediately, shouting from an open compartment halfway down the cab, "What are you going to do Potter? There's no one to help you here and no room for your stupid deer. Maybe we'll rough you up a bit, teach others what happens to those that pick the wrong side."

Hermione picked up her pace, drawing her wand as she hurried towards the compartment in the hope that she could stop Malfoy before things got out of hand. She had almost reached it when something flew out of the door, smashing into the wall in front of her, before falling to the ground. She had just enough time to register blonde hair before two more crashes dented the wall in front of her as Malfoy's lackeys slammed into it. A moment later Potter walked calmly from the compartment, grabbing Malfoy by the collar and lifting him to his feet before jamming his wand into his throat. Hermione watched in shock as he somehow managed to tower over Malfoy, despite being at least three inches shorter, "Pull your wand on me again and I won't be so polite," he threatened, before shoving the Slytherin down the hall as students began poking their heads out of their compartments to see what all the commotion was about.

The blonde stumbled, catching himself on the wall before turning and glaring at the raven haired Gryffindor, "I want my wand back Potter," he demanded, gritting his teeth in anger.

She turned towards Harry, who she now noticed was twirling a second wand in his other hand, "Now why would I want to do something like that?" he asked casually. Malfoy made a move towards it, only to stop short as he found Potter's wand aimed directly between his eyes, "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said quietly, causing Malfoy to go pale.

"You'll pay for this Potter," Malfoy said as he backed up slowly, "when my father – " he cut off as a jet of sparks left the Gryffindors wand, just missing his face.

"Oh, I didn't realize they let prisoners out of Azkaban for parent-teacher conferences," Potter replied tauntingly, "Or is he going to send me a letter asking me to stop picking on his Ickle Drakie?"

Malfoy glared at him for a moment, but was quickly distracted by the sound of laughter. Looking over his shoulder, Malfoy finally noticed the mass of students peering out of their compartments watching the confrontation. With one last glare he left, spouting off threats over his shoulder as he headed for the exit and leaving his goons to fend for themselves. Potter just watched him go with a slight smirk on his face before returning to his compartment, ignoring the trained gorillas laying in a heap just outside the door.

Hermione stared at the closed door for a moment, before remembering why she was at that end of the train in the first place. Pulling the scroll of parchment from her pocket, she took a deep breath and opened the door. Inside she was surprised to find Potter by himself, handing Malfoy's wand to a snow-white owl, " – drop it off during breakfast Hedwig. Aim for his porridge or something, you know make a bit of a mess," he said, to which the owl hooted happily in reply and gave his finger an affectionate nip, before leaping out the window. "Something I can help you with Granger?" he asked, nonchalantly stretching out across one side of the compartment, acting as if he hadn't just blasted three of his classmates into the wall and given one of their wands to his owl.

Hermione stared at her classmate. Was this really the Harry Potter that she had known for the last five years? The Harry she remembered had been quiet, nervous and a little awkward, yet she saw none of those things in the boy in front of her. "No. Yes," she cursed under her breath as he watched her in amusement, "I mean I have something for you," she said, handing him the invitation.

He took the invitation from her, "Wow, old Sluggy is trying to recruit me? Who would have thought being arrested could have such a positive influence on my reputation?" he asked with a grin as he read it. She couldn't help but smile a little bit at his devil-may-care attitude. Harry had always been a nice guy, it was good to see that after five years he was finally breaking out of his shell.

"You fought V-Voldemort," she winced as she stumbled over the name, "and lived to tell about it. Professor Slughorn is probably just curious about you. So is everyone else for that matter," she said, hoping he would take the hint. The Order had spent a lot of time and energy looking for Black and Lupin despite the Prophet's claims that the three of them were Death Eaters, but all they had found were hints. Death Eaters bound and tied, waiting for the Aurors to arrive. A side window at Emmeline Vance's house being blown in a full minute before the anti-apparition wards that would have prevented her escape were put in place. The anti-apparition wards around Bones Manor failing, allowing Madam Bones and her niece to escape just as Voldemort broke through the front door. The Order had a number of different theories, but after their sudden appearance at the Ministry, Hermione's bet was on the boy in front of her and his mysterious guardians.

"You too I take it?" Harry asked knowingly, "Wondering whether or not our fight with Snakeface was just some sort of clever ruse?"

Hermione shrugged, attempting to act casually, "Even if you told me I'm not sure I should believe you. It wouldn't be a very clever ruse if you went around telling people about it," she said. She didn't really believe he was in league with Voldemort, he had saved her life after all, but she hoped that he would try to convince her. If she could prove that Potter, Black and Lupin were on their side, maybe the Order would begin taking her seriously for a change.

"I suppose not," he replied with a laugh. "though I don't see Voldie allowing Sirius to blast him across the Ministry Atrium in front of witnesses just to clear his name."

Hermione agreed with his assessment, but it wasn't exactly conclusive proof, "I assume Voldemort would do anything if it furthered his plans. You could secretly be one of his followers just waiting to strike," she said, hoping to push him into defending himself.

The hurt look she received in reply almost made her regret her decision, but it was quickly replaced by the same self-confident smirk that he had worn since she had entered the compartment. "Me? Nah, I have a mind of my own, I don't think I'd make a very good lackey. Besides, I'm only a poor little Halfblood, I'm hardly worthy of shining their shoes."

"What about Black and Professor Lupin?" she asked, pushing a little harder, ignoring the little part of her nagging that maybe she was going too far, "They're both purebloods, Lupin is even a werewolf."

Apparently she that little part of her was right as Harry snorted humorlessly, giving her a look of disgust that made her feel about two inches tall, "Is that what the Order has been saying?" he asked heatedly, "That Sirius comes from a dark family and Remus is a werewolf, so they must be evil?"

"No of course not," Hermione assured him, quickly backtracking. She silently cursed herself for not thinking of how Harry might react to her accusing his recently exonerated guardians. She knew he didn't have a family, having spent his summers in an orphanage ever since second year when he had been brought to school a week late after almost being starved to death by his Aunt and Uncle. The fact that Black and Lupin had obviously remained in contact with him while they had been on the run should have been an indication that they cared for one another, something Harry had obviously been missing in his life. As far as he was concerned, accusing them was probably worse than accusing him. "I didn't mean to suggest that they followed You-Know – Voldemort, it's just... all the rumors that have popped up since you disappeared..."

"Of course, wizarding logic, we disappeared so we must have something to hide," Harry said, shaking his head in disgust, "completely ignoring the fact that maybe we hid because the most powerful sociopath in centuries just put us at the top of his hit list for exposing him."

"If you needed to hide, you should have gone to Dumbledore for help. He's been trying to contact you three all summer so you could join the Order" she offered. From what little she had heard about the Order meetings Dumbledore had spent a lot of effort trying to bring them into the fold. If she could convince them to join, maybe the Order would see how useful she could be and stop treating her like a child.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said with a short laugh, her offer apparently amusing enough to make him forget her earlier misstep, "Remus, Sirius and I have zero intention of joining Dumbles little vigilante group."

"Why not?" Hermione asked, puzzled by his quick refusal. If there was anyone that could hide them from Voldemort, surely it was Dumbledore.

"We actually plan on fighting back," he said flippantly, "not just dropping in to our secret clubhouse every once in a while to report that we just watched the Death Eaters murder another couple dozen Muggles."

Hermione stared at him, shocked that he could be so casual while insulting people that were risking their lives to protect the wizarding world, "Excuse me," she replied indignantly, "but the Order fights back, if it hadn't been for the Order Voldemort would still be in hiding, waiting to strike from the shadows."

"And if it wasn't for Remus, Sirius and I, Voldemort would not only still be in hiding, but most of you would be dead and he would have the Prophecy." She considered arguing for a moment, but decided he had a point. After all it had been Potter that had taken out all three of the Death Eaters that had followed them out of the Prophecy room, Professor Lupin had saved Ron, Ginny and Luna, and Black had arrived just in time to save Tonks from her aunt. "So try again," he said cockily, "has the Order actually had any successful missions?"

Hermione thought hard for a minute before she shook her head, "No I suppose not. Hagrid and Madam Maxine went to speak with the giants, but after the attack last week I assume they must not have gone well. They sent someone to the werewolves as well but – Wait!" she cut off abruptly, suddenly realizing that he was doing exactly what she had been trying to do to him, gathering information. She had been so focused on trying to get him to let something slip, that she hadn't realized he was doing the same, "I shouldn't be telling you this," she exclaimed angrily, "You tricked me!"

Harry grinned widely, "Oh come on Granger, don't be mad. You were trying to do the same thing to me." She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it as he raised an eyebrow knowingly. Instead she hung her head in shame. She couldn't believe she had just given up the little she knew of the Order's movements, he hadn't even needed to force it out of her. Maybe they were right not to trust her any more than they did.

"Aww Granger, come on don't be sad either, that's even worse. It's not like you told me anything I didn't already know," he said trying to cheer her up. While it did make her feel better about the information she had just given away, it didn't help with the fact that she had just proven to herself that she couldn't be trusted. Seeming to sense this Harry sighed deeply, "I'll tell you what, if you do something for me I'll answer one question."

Hermione looked up in surprise at his offer, "Really?"

He nodded in response, "Sure, but if you ask where Sirius and Remus are I'll call Hedwig back and give her another wand to play with."

She watched him carefully, unsure whether or not his threat was real, "What exactly do I have to do?". While she desperately wanted to know whether his guardians were involved in thwarting those Death Eater attacks, she wasn't about to allow him to trick her again.

Harry however just seemed amused by her suspicions, "It's very simple," he said cheerfully, "all you have to do is say the phrase 'Harry Potter outsmarted me' out loud."

She blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the simplicity of his request, "Why?"

"You're the brightest witch in the school," he explained with a shrug, "outsmarting you is an achievement. Having you admit it will just make it better."

She watched him closely looking for any signs of deception, but found none. She knew this should be an easy decision, gaining some valuable information in exchange for a small admission, but she absolutely hated it when someone beat her at anything. Admitting it would be painful. Still if he would answer her question about his guardians... "Harry Potter outsmarted me," she grumbled quietly, deciding to get it over with quickly.

Harry however had no such desire, "What was that?" he asked, cupping his left hand over his ear, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that over the sound of the fly in the corner."

Vowing to make him pay for this, Hermione closed her eyes and clenched her fists, "I said, HARRY POTTER OUTSMARTED ME!" Her eyes flew open in surprise as her voice reverberated off the compartment walls. Her eyes darted from his face to his hand, a hand that currently held a wand pointed at her. She quickly put two and two together, coming to the conclusion that he had used an amplifying charm on her.

Hermione felt her face go red, whether from anger or embarrassment she wasn't sure, "You – you prat!" she exclaimed furiously as Harry bent over laughing, his elbows on his knees the only things keeping him from falling to the ground. Hands clenched so tightly she could feel her nails digging into the palm of her hands, she considered hexing the git to teach him a lesson. Deciding he wasn't worth it however, she turned to leave.

"Hang on Granger," he said in between gasps of air, "don't go yet. You have to ask your question." She watched as he slowly brought himself back under control, "Come on," he said, gesturing for her to begin, "before I change my mind."

While she briefly contemplated walking away, her curiosity quickly overcame that urge, "Are Lupin and Black responsible for saving Madam Bones and Emmeline Vance?"

Amusement still shone in his eyes as Harry responded, "Of course it was us," he said as if it should be obvious, "who else would it be?"

Hermione smiled, satisfied that at the very least she had determined that her assumption was right, when what he said hit her, "Wait, us?" she asked, "You were there too?"

"Sorry Granger, one question only," he said, smirking irritatingly at her. She opened her mouth to try to convince him that it was still part of her first question, but he interrupted her, "Would you look at the time, Sluggy's meeting is about to start, shouldn't be late for that," he said, hurrying her out of the compartment.

She stopped as he made no move to follow her out, "Aren't you coming?"

"Of course, just need to grab a robe from my trunk," he said, giving her a quick grin before slamming the compartment door shut and closing the blinds.

Hermione leaned against the wall, idly twirling a strand of hair around her finger, contemplating her mysterious classmate as she waited. One thing was for certain, if the little she had seen was anything to go by then Potter had definitely been hiding more than a little the past few years. Luckily she would have some time to see just how much he had been hiding from everyone.

After a few minutes she got sick of waiting, "Potter, what's taking so long?" she asked, rapping her knuckles on the door. Frowning at the lack of response, she slid the door open to find the compartment exactly as it had been when she had left with one small exception; Potter was nowhere to be seen. With nowhere for him to hide she stuck her head out the window, unsurprisingly finding no sign of him. Slamming the window she noticed a small scrap of parchment flutter to the floor, disturbed by the sudden gust.

_Granger_

_Sorry to run out on you, but something came up. I have to go – _

There was a large gap in the writing with several words crossed out, the few she could make out seemed to be lame excuses ranging from visiting his sick grandmother, who she was fairly certain didn't exist, to taking his owl for a walk.

– _Okay cards on the table, excuses aren't my thing, I just have better things to do be fawned over some fat old guy like some trophy. Be a mate and make something up for me, preferably something good like saving children from a burning building. Actually you can just use that one if you like. Anyways you're probably getting sick of waiting outside, so I should probably take off before you burst in here and try to drag me along to the congregation of the conceited assholes. _

_XOXO_

_-HP_

Sighing in disappointment she crumpled up the note, throwing it in the bin before leaving to look for Neville so they could go be fawned over like a pair of trophies.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Harry rounded the corner quickly as he attempted to dodge his pursuers. This was the third day that he had been playing this game of cat and mouse, but already it seemed like a lifetime. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that he had lost them for the moment and quickly ducked under a tapestry, taking refuge in the passage hidden behind. Not a moment too soon, he thought to himself as the sound pursuit rounded the corner behind him. He held his breath as the tapping of numerous pairs of feet raced past him, increasing their pace as they realized they had once again lost track of their prey.

He waited until the last set of footsteps had faded from hearing before leaning back against the stone wall and letting out a sigh of relief. Only three days at school and he was already looking over his shoulder at every turn, going out of his way to make sure he had a secret passage nearby just in case he had to make a sudden getaway. After five years of virtual anonymity it was enough to drive him mad. It had gotten to the point where he had considered using his Cloak to get from class to class, the only thing preventing him from doing it was the need to keep it secret. He didn't want to risk anyone finding out about it and with people watching his every move it wasn't worth the risk. Pushing off the wall he sighed once again, this time in exasperation as he began plotting the long winding route he would have to take to his next class to avoid being seen.

He had only just begun when he felt his pocket vibrate. Extracting the small mirror from his pocket he brought it up to his face, "What?" he growled at the image of his godfather that stared back at him.

Sirius was taken aback for only a moment before a playful grin crossed his face, "What's the matter pup, someone steal your favorite toy?"

Harry shook his head, "No, I was just –" he cut off as he realized that he was about to tell Sirius of all people that he had been forced to hide from a pack of teenage girls, " – in the middle of my morning run," he winced as soon as the lie was out of his mouth but pressed on in hopes that his godfather would ignore it, "what's up?"

Never one to pass up a chance at tormenting his godson, Sirius grinned at him through the mirror, "Taken up jogging pup?"

Harry debated trying to run with his lie, but ultimately decided against it, "If you take your time getting to the point I might have to," he replied snarkily, "I'm going to be late for class."

Sirius looked like he was about to try pestering him to find out what he was hiding, but luckily Remus snatched the mirror from his hand, "Sorry pup, but Padfoot had trouble remembering class times when he was a student," he said, jerking the mirror away as Sirius tried to take it back, "expecting him to remember them now is setting yourself up for disappointment." There was another scuffle and Sirius' head pushed into the frame beside Remus. After a few seconds struggle Remus gave up, deciding to allow the other Marauder to have his way as long as he retained control of the mirror, "We just wanted to make sure we were still on for tonight."

Harry nodded, "Of course, I'll see you guys sometime after midnight. But I got to go or I'm really going to be late for Transfiguration."

"Alright pup, have a good day," Remus said with a wave, "we'll see you later."

"You know, one day you two will need to stop calling me pup," he said with a smile despite the inaccuracy of the term. Moony and Padfoot still hadn't fully gotten over the fact that he wouldn't be joining them in the canine club.

"You won't understand until you're older," Remus replied, "but whatever you become, part of us will always see you as our little pup."

"Thanks Moony that means a lot," he said, barely able to contain the tremor in his voice. While Remus and Sirius had done everything they could for him since he had met them, it still sometimes felt strange to have adults that genuinely cared for him. "I should really get going though, I'll see you guys tonight."

"Bye pup," Sirius replied grabbing hold of the mirror, "say hi to Minnie for us and be sure not to go 'jogging' every time a cute girl tries to talk to you. Just because you aren't a pup doesn't mean we can't have a pupette– " he was cut off, the image disconnecting as Remus once again tried to wrestle the mirror away from him.

Harry shook his head in amusement at the antics of his guardians as he slid his mirror back into his pocket. Somehow Sirius always knew when he was having girl troubles and never hesitated to give him a push in what he considered to be the right direction. Looking down at his watch, Harry's train of thought was broken as he realized he had less than two minutes to make it across the castle and down two floors.

With no time to spare he took off full speed down the passage, not even slowing as he reached the end. He burst into the next hallway, almost barreling over a group of first years awed by the fact that he had just emerged from a seemingly solid wall, and headed for the stairwell, taking the steps three at a time. Hitting the bottom he made a right, coming to a halt at a portrait of a pair of beautiful women. Not even looking at the painting, he quickly ran his hand along the bottom of the frame before racing through the newly revealed opening. He ran as fast as he could, his shoulders nearly brushing the sides of the narrow passage until he reached the end, coming out at the top of another staircase. He quickly reached the bottom and took his first left, the Transfiguration classroom coming into view. Seeing McGonagall about to close the door he put on a last burst of speed, just managing to slide through before it closed with a loud click.

He immediately noticed everyone turn towards him, "Nice of you to join us Mr Potter," his Head of House said coolly, before pointing at the last remaining empty spot in the room, "if you would take your seat, perhaps we can begin." He nodded, too out of breath to respond and headed towards his seat. Turning towards the rest of the students, McGonagall began teaching, "Good morning class and welcome – " Harry tuned her out as she began her NEWT level course introduction, informing them of her expectations and the need to keep up with classwork. He couldn't help but feel bored as she went over her syllabus for the year, emphasizing that non-verbal casting would become an important part of the curriculum after the first few weeks.

He sighed quietly, once again cursing Moony and Padfoot for forcing him to return to Hogwarts. Despite weeks of arguing that he already knew most of the material for the courses he would be taking and that going would be a waste of time they had insisted, maintaining that it would be good for him to spend some time with people his own age. He had argued that he had already spent five years with people his own age and it hadn't done any good, but they just said things changed and that it wasn't healthy for a teenage wizard to spend all his time with his guardians. Personally he thought they were just cowards, afraid of what his mother might do to them, even from beyond the grave, if they allowed him to drop out of school.

" – now if you will all select a partner, we will begin today's lesson," Harry was jolted out of his daydreams as his classmates began pairing up. He looked down at his watch, eyes opening in surprise as he realized they were nearly finished the first half of their double period.

"Do you want to work together Harry?" he looked up to find Hermione turned in her seat, watching him expectantly.

Harry looked around the room, looking for a way out. It wasn't that he didn't like Granger, in fact out of all of his housemates she was the only one he could stand for any extended period of time, but the hopeful look she was giving him made him wary. "Sure," he said after a moment, resigning himself to his upcoming interrogation. While a few others had been looking at him as if hoping he might ask them instead, he chose Granger as the lesser of all evils. He had no desire to deal with Parvati's senseless gossip and while the Slytherin girl leering at him was definitely cute, the fact that he didn't know her name was enough proof that she was probably only interested in him for his new found fame. Bones had briefly been an option, but she had blushed and looked away the moment he noticed her, pairing up with the blonde beside her instead.

He stood up and pulled his chair over to her desk, "So, what are we working on?" he asked curiously.

"Were you not listening?" she asked, seemingly torn between shock and dismay, "We're working on human transfiguration, we're supposed to grow fur from each others hand. I don't know if I feel comfortable – "

"It's alright Granger, I was messing with you," he lied, not wanting the detention or extra work that would come with McGonagall finding out that he had zoned out her entire lecture, "Come on, you can go first."

She looked at him uncertainly, obviously not convinced, but ultimately decided that he was telling the truth. "_Humanus Vellus_," she said, flicking her wand before spinning it in a circle. Harry felt the magic wash over his hand, but nothing happened. Hermione looked at it in disappointment, even going so far as to rub her hand across the back of his to make sure the hairs didn't happen to be invisible. "Your turn," she said, dissatisfied that she hadn't managed the spell on her first try.

"No, it's fine you try again," he said, doing his best to hide his grin as he came up with an idea. If he played this right not only would he be able to distract her from any questions she might ask, but he would get a laugh out of it as well.

"Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly, not wanting to monopolize all of their time.

He nodded, "Of course," he said reassuring her, "I'm pretty sure I felt something. You'll probably get it in a few more tries and then I'll have more time to get it down before the end of class."

Never one to turn down extra practice time Hermione quickly accepted and began trying the spell again. Harry felt the magic wash over his hand, each time a little bit closer to forming. Finally, after at least a dozen attempts he felt the magic washing over his hand begin to snap into effect. Acting quickly he channeled his own magic through his hand, pushing out the foreign magic as it went. He saw the look of accomplishment flash across her face for just a moment before it was replaced by a look of disappointment. "Feathers?" she asked as she picked up his hand to get a closer look at the black feathers covering his left hand, "How did you end up with feathers?"

Harry pulled his hand back, "That's so cool," he said, making a show of looking at his hand as if in awe before thrusting it back in her direction, "try changing it back." She tried to remove the feathers from his hand, but was unable, due to the fact that he had grown them himself. He allowed her to try a few more times before changing his hand back to normal.

She paused before trying again, "Are you sure you don't want to try?"

"It's fine, we still have a lot of time," he said nodding in response, "besides, you're so close."

She smiled at him before continuing her practice. Harry really had to give it to her, as this time it only took five tries before he needed to transform his hand. Triumph once again flashed briefly across her face, before quickly being replaced by annoyance. This time she didn't check with him before she began attempting to transfiguring his hand, a look of determination across her face. Time and again she attempted to grow fur from his hand, her determination only growing as a few other students managed to complete the assignment. She continued until she was interrupted by Professor McGonagall, "Ms Granger, while I applaud your perseverance, it would be nice if Mr Potter were given a chance to at least attempt the spell before the end of class."

Hermione looked towards the clock with a start, realizing there was only a few minutes left in class, "I'm so sorry Professor," she said, "I didn't realize how much time had passed."

"Maybe you should be apologizing to Mr Potter for monopolizing his time," McGonagall said sternly.

"It's alright Professor, I insisted," he admitted, feeling somewhat guilty that it was his fault that Granger was currently being chastised by her role model, "she almost had it and I thought that I might as well give her a few extra chances to get it right."

The strict professor turned to him, "Really Mr Potter?" she asked, to which he nodded hesitantly in reply, "I don't believe I've seen you attempt the spell once."

Harry winced at her tone, "Well, it started out as a few extra tries and then – "

"Mr Potter, I think you will find it very difficult to succeed in my class if you are not prepared," she interrupted sternly, coming to the conclusion that he had allowed Granger to practice to cover that fact that he was unprepared. "In fact, as I said in my speech that you no doubt did not listen too, that if you do not prepare for my class that you will no longer be in my class."

"But I am prepared Professor," he replied, "I just – "

"Then you will have no problem demonstrating to me," she said placing her hands on her hips as she watched him expectantly. He nodded thankfully at Hermione as she silently offered her hand to him, as he considered his options. He didn't think she would accept an excuse so he had the option of performing the spell properly, drawing more attention that he didn't want or he intentionally flubbing the spell and risk getting detention.

Harry sighed in exasperation before deciding that he would prefer the attention to the detention, "_Humanus Vellus_," he said, flicking his wand before giving it a small clockwise spin. He had to hold back his laughter as both women looked down in shock at the curly brown fur covering Granger's hand. His urge to laugh quickly died as they turned their attention towards him, "Oh, would you look at that," he said acting surprised, "I got it on my first try."

Both women seemed to be momentarily speechless, though he doubted that it would last. Luckily he didn't have to find out as the bell rang, signifying the end of class. "Great class Professor," he said, sweeping his belongings into his open bag with a single movement, "can't wait till next week." He threw his bag over his shoulder and bolted from the class. He could faintly hear McGonagall calling after him as he weaved past his classmates, but by the time she thought to follow him he was already long gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hermione headed towards the door in an attempt to follow Potter, but was held up by mass of students crowding the exit. Squeezing through an opening and out the door, she craned her head, trying to spot the dark haired boy as her classmates streamed past her, but he was nowhere in sight. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration, stopping as she realized that it was still covered in fur.

"I believe you may have been correct to assume that there is more to Mr Potter than meets the eye," said McGonagall, joining her outside the classroom as the rest of the students streamed past on their way to lunch.

Hermione snorted humorlessly in response, "Really, I hadn't noticed," she mumbled sarcastically before remembering who she was talking to. "Er, sorry professor," she said quickly, glancing over at the older woman as she did. McGonagall didn't seem to be paying attention however, her gaze following the mass of students headed towards the Great Hall. "Professor?" she asked carefully, hoping to gain her attention. After all, she didn't want to go to lunch with her hand still covered in fur.

McGonagall gave a start as she was pulled from her daze, "Sorry Ms Granger, I was just reminiscing," she said, noticing the fur still covering her students hand and vanishing it with a absent minded flick of her wand before returning her gaze to the corridor where the rest of her students had disappeared.

Hermione carefully examined her hand, assuring herself it had been returned to its natural hairless state before she turned to her Head of House, "About what professor?" she asked curiously.

She couldn't help but fidget just a little as the stern professor turned her attention towards her, her stare seeming to bore into her. "Would you mind trying that spell one more time Ms Granger?" she asked, extending her hand as she did.

Hermione blinked, taken back by the non-sequitur, "Of course Professor," she said uncertainly, pulling out her wand as she wondered why the transfiguration teacher would need her to attempt her spell again and whether it had anything to do with what she had been reminiscing. Shaking her head she cleared her thoughts, focusing intently on her professor's hand and visualizing the fur that would sprout, before flicking her wand and drawing it in a small circle, "_Humanus Vellus_." She couldn't help but smile at her success as short gray fur sprouted, covering all but a few small patches of the older woman's hand.

Professor McGonagall seemed pleased by her progress as well, a small grin playing across her face as she examined the gray fur now covering most of her hand. "I should have known," she said, with a light chuckle before quickly vanishing it with a flick of her wand.

Hermione frowned, "Should have known what Professor?" she asked, wondering whether her Head of House knew why she had been unable to cast her spell on Harry.

"Oh, nothing significant," McGonagall replied with a shake of her head, "just confirming an old suspicion." Seeing the look of confusion on the younger witch's face she explained, "While making an error in my class is not uncommon Ms Granger, making a error with the exact same result time after time is incredibly unlikely. So unlikely in fact, that it has only happened to one other student in all the years that I have been teaching."

"Who?" Hermione asked immediately, wondering whether or not she should try to contact this other student. While she had managed to perform the spell properly this time, she might not get so lucky if she ran into the same problem again.

"Lily Evans," McGonagall replied, causing Hermione to frown as she tried to remember where she had heard that name, "or as she was known before her death Lily Potter, Mr Potter's mother." Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. What were the chances that the only other person to have the same sort of problem as her happened to be the mother of her partner?

McGonagall however seemed unaware of her surprise as she continued speaking, "The assignment was slightly more advanced, transfiguring the entire hand rather than just the skin," McGonagall explained, her voice far away as she recalled her former students, "She happened to be working with Mr Potter's father and, much like yourself, found she was incapable of performing the assigned spell. Each time she attempted to transfigure his hand into a paw it would instead transform into a hoof." She shook her head wryly, "Though I never found out how he did it, I always assumed that James had done it on purpose. I suppose I finally have my answer," she said, her voice somber as she remembered why she would never know for sure if her guess was correct.

"Why would Mr Potter try to make Mrs Potter fail her assignment?" Hermione asked. While she didn't know either of the elder Potter's, she couldn't think of any reason for Harry to mess with her school work. After all it was possible that Professor McGonagall was wrong, perhaps the Potters were somehow resistant to being transfigured.

"James was the most talented Transfiguration student I ever taught, I can only assume that he thought she may come to him for help," her teacher replied, smiling as she reminisced about her former students. "While I don't support interfering with another student's work, it was one of Mr Potter's less outrageous attempts at wooing the lovely Ms Evans."

Hermione was so focused on wondering what kind of stunts could make meddling with another students work seem like a good flirtation technique, when the second half of her teacher's statement brought her mind to a screeching halt, "Wait... You don't think Harry was trying to flirt with me, do you?" she asked in bewilderment.

Professor McGonagall laughed, "Don't act so surprised Ms Granger, any young wizard would be fortunate to win your affections," she said causing to Hermione blush, "but no, I don't believe he would have run off so quickly if that had been his intention. Mr Potter has recently begun living with his fathers' best friends and has likely spent the last few months listening to stories about his parents. It would not be surprising if he were attempting to recreate some of his father's pranks in an effort to feel closer to him."

Hermione felt her heart sink for a moment before she caught herself, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. She didn't care what Har– Potter thought about her, she had... well she wasn't entirely sure what she had with Ron, but she knew there was something there. She had known he was interested in her for a long time, she just wasn't sure if she felt the same way. Every time she thought she was ready to make her decision he would change her mind. Whether it was a jealous outburst such as the one on the train or confronting a gang of Slytherins on his own because they had been picking on a first year, he always managed to make her rethink her decision.

Hermione was torn from her thoughts as McGonagall spoke again, "Ms Granger, may we speak in private?" she asked, gesturing towards the empty Transfiguration classroom.

Hermione looked at her professor curiously, wondering why her professor would suddenly wish to move their conversation, "Of course," she replied, allowing the Transfiguration teacher to lead her inside the classroom. She waited until she had taken a seat in front of McGonagall's desk before she spoke again, "What did you wish to speak to me about Professor?"

Taking her seat the professor hesitated for a moment, as if unsure whether she really wanted to broach the subject. "Professor Dumbledore wishes to know if you are still willing to aid the Order," she said with a sigh, deciding to get right to the point, "He has a task for you, if you still wish to help of course."

Hermione was torn between excitement and shock at the thought that Dumbledore wanted her help. "Of course Professor," she replied eagerly as her mind began racing trying to figure out what the Headmaster might want from her. She doubted that she would be sent on a mission due to the fact that she was both underage and still in school, but she found the possibility of doing research that would help in the fight against Voldemort almost as exciting. "What does he need me to do?"

McGonagall watched her for a moment, seeming to examine whether or not she was worthy of this task, "We need you to watch Mr Potter, follow him wherever he goes," she said, "we need to find his guardians and right now you are the best chance we have of doing that."

Hermione frowned, her excitement fading, "You want me to spy on him?" she asked disappointedly. She had hoped to be given a task researching the counter to some obscure ritual or a powerful weapon that could be used to help combat Inferi or other monsters. Not only was spying on a classmate dull, but it was also wrong. "Why?"

McGonagall sighed deeply, "Ms Granger, you are aware of the state of the Order are you not?" she asked. Hermione nodded, while she didn't know specifics, after spending the summer living at headquarters she had a general idea of the size of the Order. "What you may not be aware of is our lack of talented duelers. With the exception of Professor Dumbledore, Moody, Shacklebolt and Tonks, we have very few members that are willing and even fewer that are able to fight," Hermione felt her eyes widen in surprise. She had known that the Order wasn't a military group, but hearing that they only had a small handful of competent fighters was both shocking and terrifying. "During the first war Mr Black and Mr Lupin were two of our most dangerous members. We need their help if we are to protect the public from the ravages of the Death Eaters."

"Why don't you just ask Harry?" she asked. "He and his guardians may be secretive, but they seem to be trying to protect people. I'm sure if you explained it to him he'd agree to help."

McGonagall shook her head, "Professor Dumbledore had a meeting with Mr Potter last night, yet he refused to divulge the location of Mr Black and Mr Lupin. He even went so far as to insult the headmaster when he attempted to press him on the matter."

"I don't know if I feel comfortable spying on Harry," Hermione replied uncomfortably, avoiding her teacher's gaze as she did. As much as she wanted to help with the Order, she just didn't think she would be able to spy on one of her friends, even one who could only loosely be considered as such. It would be one thing if it were Malfoy or one of the other Death Eaters children, but Harry and his guardians were on their side. They had proven it at the Ministry and if what he had told her on the train was true, they had gone out of their way to save both Madam Bones and Emmeline Vance.

"I know this isn't an ideal task Ms Granger, but Professor Dumbledore considers this to be of utmost importance," said McGonagall in an attempt to persuade her. "You-Know-Who is ready to begin this war and it is only a matter of time before he attacks. When that happens we need every wand available to turn him back."

"But why me Professor? Neville and Ron both live in his dorm, wouldn't they be better choices?" she asked.

"Yet despite living with him for five years they had no idea of either Mr Potter's capabilities or the fact that he was in contact with two known fugitives," McGonagall replied, shaking her head. "You on the other hand were able to verify that Mr Lupin and Mr Black were responsible for foiling the attacks this summer. You are the best chance we have for finding them before there is another attack, maybe one that they can not stop on their own."

Hermione gazed at the floor as she considered her options. While she wasn't comfortable spying, she also wasn't willing to allow innocents to die. "Alright Professor, I suppose I can try to find out where they're located," she said, careful to make no mention of spying. After all, she had already convinced him to share information with her once, she was sure she could do it again.

McGonagall gave her an approving smile and nod, "Thank you Ms Granger, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will be most grateful," she said, walking around her desk and leading Hermione to the door.

Recognizing her dismissal, Hermione quickly gathered her things and followed her to the door, "You're welcome Professor," she said, before slipping out the door and making her way to the Great Hall in hopes of getting something to eat before her next class.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hermione glanced down, checking the Marauder's Map once more to verify that she was in the right spot before looking up and down the corridor, searching for the door that should have been directly in front of her. Looking back up in frustration, she paced up and down the corridor alternating her gaze between the wall and the parchment in her hands as she looked for anything out of place, anything that might signify a hidden doorway. While it wasn't the first time she had come across a hidden doorway in the castle, they usually weren't too difficult to find if you knew where to look and what to look for, yet despite her best efforts she wound up back where she started, glaring at the wall as if she were trying to will a doorway into existence.

She was about to give up and return to her prefect rounds when she noticed the sudden change in the tapestry in front of her, the valiant knight and roaring dragon replaced with a pair of young lovers from one scene to the next. She began scrutinizing each panel in depth, following the young knight as he discovered the ruined village, tracked the dragon to it's lair. The last panel she could make out showed the knight charging the dragon, his shield held high as fire poured from the dragon's mouth, before her gaze seemed to slide onto a young couple kissing in the moonlight.

Examining her discovery more closely, she checked the area between the two tapestries once again and was rewarded with a glimpse of a door before her gaze was forced to the side once again. Taking a deep breath she focused on the wall in front of her. She could feel the magic working against her but she refused to look away until she felt the door suddenly come into focus as she broke through the magic obscuring it.

Grinning victoriously, she quietly opened the door and walked inside. The room was similar to many of the other abandoned classrooms throughout the school with most of the desks pushed to the side, many bearing the markings of being used for target practice, and a thick layer of dust riddled with footprints, the only thing out of place was the patchy sofa tucked into the far corner. At the far end of the room a number of desks were pushed together in an L-shape to form a large work space where an raven haired teenager leaned over one of his assignments, his snowy white owl perched at his shoulder.

The owl was the first to notice her, yellow eyes examining her for a moment before turning and hooting softly at her master. The boy in question didn't look up however, his attention focused solely on the work in front of him as Hermione slowly made her way towards the front of the class. The owl hooted again, more loudly this time, nudging the boy with her head. Still he didn't look up, instead reaching up to scratch her feathers with his free hand, "Sorry Hedwig, I'm almost done. We can go soo– Ah!" He exclaimed loudly, looking up as his owl bit his hand, "Hedwig, what the –" he cut off, finally realizing he wasn't alone.

"Er... Hi Harry," she said, finding herself suddenly nervous now that he had noticed her.

Her nervousness increased as he stared blankly at her for a long moment before turning back to his work, apparently content to ignore her, "You may as well turn around Granger, the answer is no."

She blinked in surprise, taken aback by his immediate dismissal. While their previous meetings over the past few days had proven to her that he wasn't the same quiet boy she had known for their first five years together, he had never been outright rude to her. "What answer is no?" she asked, slightly annoyed that he thought that he could just ignore her, "You don't even know why I'm here."

"You're here to try to convince me to tell you where Sirius and Remus are hiding out," he said nonchalantly, still focused on his work, "or at least that's the most likely reason. I suppose you could also be here to try to get me to teach you the elemental patronus or tell you how I messed with your Transfiguration assignment or for a snog, it doesn't really matter, the answer is no." He paused and looked up at her for a moment, "Well, except for that last one, I could probably be persuaded to help you out with that," he said, winking as he flashed her an arrogant smirk.

Despite her best efforts she felt the heat in her cheeks rise, "What makes you think that I would be interested in doing _that_ with _you_?" she asked haughtily, perhaps a touch more harshly than she had meant to. She winced internally, cursing herself for speaking without thinking and putting her foot in her mouth. She was trying to get information from him, insulting him wouldn't help.

Harry shrugged however, apparently indifferent to her rudeness, "Well, you asked me to to Slughorn's party on the train, wanted to partner up in class and now you've tracked me down after curfew in an abandoned classroom in a virtually unused corner of the castle. Honestly Granger, the only way you could come on any stronger would be to jump me in the middle of class."

She gaped at him, finally realizing why Ron had been avoiding her since Transfiguration. She had accidentally made it look like she was flirting with Har– with Potter and made him jealous. "In your dreams Potter," she said coolly, ignoring the flush in her cheeks and resolving to act a little more business like around him. After all she didn't want to give Ro – anyone the wrong idea.

"Occasionally," he replied with a wink causing her to blush even brighter. Harry however didn't seem to notice as he turned his attention back to his homework. She watched in surprise as he continued his work as if she wasn't even there, ignoring her presence entirely. He was so focused that she was forced to clear her throat to get his attention. "Was there anything else?" he asked distractedly.

"Of course there is, you didn't think I came here to say I wasn't interested in snogging you, did you?" she snapped, annoyed at being ignored again.

"No, but I thought I'd already made it clear that I have no intention of telling you where Remus and Sirius are, how I messed with your transfiguration assignment or how I cast my elemental patronus. Did I forget something?"

Hermione cast about her mind, searching for a reason to continue their conversation. Despite his protests she was sure that if she could just keep him talking, she could convince him that they were on the same side. She just needed something to give her some time to make him realize that following Dumbledore and joining the Order was their best hope for beating Voldemort. "Well what about the DA?" she asked, remembering the defense group she and Neville had created last year in defiance of Umbridge and the Ministry. Even if he wasn't willing to tell her anything now, if she could get him to join the DA she would have plenty of time to plead her case and as a bonus they would get some much needed help from someone that was obviously highly skilled, which was yet another thing she needed to ask him about.

"What about it?" he asked, the indifference clear in his voice.

"Well, I'm sure you heard that we have been approved as an official school club, but now with so many people interested Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna and I could use some help teaching everyone." It was true too, in the three days since they had boarded the Hogwarts Express all five of them had been bombarded with questions from students interested in joining the DA, many of whom hadn't even been a part of the group the previous year. "I thought that seeing as you were at the Ministry as well you might be interested in helping us."

"Sorry Granger, not interested."

Hermione blinked, once again surprised by his immediate dismissal. She had hardly even had time to finish talking before he rejected her offer. "Why not?" she asked, bewildered by the fact that he could just refuse such an offer out of hand. The DA was pretty much the talk of the school right now, most students would be jumping at a chance to not only be a part of it, but to be one of its leaders.

"Do you seriously think I'm going to join a group that calls themselves Dumbledore's Army?" he asked, laughing wryly at her. "I already told Dumbledore that we aren't interested in joining his bloody Order, I sure as hell have no interest in joining it's kiddie table."

She stared at him open mouthed, torn between shock and anger at the blatant disrespect. "Excuse me?"

Harry ran one of his hands through his already messy hair, trying to contain his irritation, "You're excused," he said exasperatedly. She opened her mouth, intending to tell him off for his rudeness, but he had already continued speaking. "Honestly Granger, I'm sure you have a fantastic lecture all planned out, but if you hadn't noticed, I'm a little busy right now." He shook his head, looking back down at his work, "So if you could just go back to whatever it was you were doing, and tell the crooked nosed old bastard to mind his own business, that would be fantastic."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded angrily.

Harry looked at her for a moment, taking a deep breath before throwing down his quill, his attempt to contain his annoyance failing, "It means that I'm sick of Dumbledore and his flunkies trying to badger, manipulate and otherwise try to pressure me into telling them where to find Remus and Sirius," he said heatedly as he began collecting his things, apparently having had enough of their conversation. "As I've told you, I've told him and I've told a number of his other mindless flunkies, we have no desire to join the bloody Order and no intention of changing our bloody minds." Rising from his desk he threw his bag over his shoulder, his books and assignment having neatly packed themselves inside, before heading towards the door.

Refusing to be ignored so easily, not to mention angry at being called a mindless flunky, Hermione stepped into his path, "Why not?" she asked, unable to hide the irritation in her voice. She had been trying to join the Order since they had reconvened and didn't understand how someone opposed to Voldemort wouldn't want to join forces with Dumbledore, the only wizard in the world that could truly stand up to him, "Why don't you want to join the Order?"

Harry shook his head in exasperation, "I'd love to explain, but I have plans tonight so..." he moved to walk around her, but she moved with him.

"Well unless your plan was to spend the rest of the night in the common room, you're going to have to cancel. It's past curfew," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

Harry looked at her for a moment in disbelief, before snorting in amusement, "I wouldn't worry about it Granger, I've been ignoring curfew for years and haven't run into trouble yet, I don't plan on starting now."

She looked at him skeptically, after all there was no way the staff would allow any student to get away with being out of bounds after curfew. She had plenty of experience in that regard, having spent many nights exploring the castle with Ron and Neville and they had all been caught on multiple occasions. No one could avoid the professors, prefects and ghosts all the time, so there was no way he could have the sort of experience exploring the castle at night as he implied. Besides, she definitely would have noticed him coming in late at least once, wouldn't she? "Just because no one ever caught you, doesn't mean the rules don't apply to you," she said, deciding that it wasn't important and that she could ask Ron and Neville if they had ever noticed him coming in late.

He opened his mouth to argue, but stopped before any words came from his mouth, a thoughtful look on his face. "You have a good point," he said, surprising her. She had expected that he would try to argue his way out of it, forcing her to escort him back to the dorms in sullen silence, ruining her chance to poke, pry and otherwise try to convince him that joining the Order was the right thing to do.

"Well then," she said, thinking up ways to extend their time together as she turned and lead the way to the door, "we should get moving. If you're restless you can come with me while I take one last loop of the main corridors..." she looked back, cutting off as she realized he wasn't following her. "Are you coming?" she asked slightly impatiently, eager for her chance to question him.

"Hmm?" Harry looked up at her with a start, "Oh no, I didn't mean the point about rules not applying to me, I meant the point that no one has ever caught me after curfew before. How did you?"

Hermione gave a start, glancing down at the map rolled up in her hand for just the smallest fraction of a second before catching herself. Apparently it was too long however as she looked up just in time to see Harry's wand jump into his hand and the map jumped out of hers.

"Hey!" she exclaimed loudly, wondering how he could have possibly noticed the map from such a short glance as he snatched the map out of the air, "Give that back!"

"This old thing?" he asked teasingly, holding up the ratty old piece of parchment, "What could you possibly want with this tattered old parchment?"

"It's..." Hermione trailed off, unsure what she should tell him. She obviously couldn't tell him what it really was, as it was a closely kept secret. Only her, Neville and the Weasley's were aware of it, and she wanted to keep it that way. Luckily the password would keep him from realizing what he really had in his hand. "It's a joke parchment," she lied, grinning as she remembered the map's other security feature, "I borrowed it from Neville as a distraction during my patrol," she said, proud of herself for coming up with a believable lie so quickly.

"You're walking around with a joke parchment?" Harry asked skeptically, causing her to scowl just a little. Just because she took her schoolwork seriously didn't mean that she didn't occasionally enjoy having a laugh as well. He shrugged as she nodded, "Well, let's see if it's any good," he said, tapping his wand to the parchment. Resisting the urge to try to stop him, Hermione watched nervously, hoping that Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs would pull through for her. She knew from her experiments trying to figure out how it worked that they were at least semi-sentient and that they enjoyed jokes at the expense of whoever happened to be nearby. If she was lucky they would tease Harry a little bit and he would give her the map back, none the wiser.

She sighed in relief as she noticed him grinning widely, "Not bad, I can see why Longbottom held onto this for so long," he said, splitting his attention between her and the concealed map, "That Mr Prongs especially seems like a really dashing young fellow, don't you think? You don't happen to know who he is do you?"

"Er, no..." she replied slowly, unsure how to react. Harry however was ignoring her, having moved back to his desk, completely engrossed in the map, occasionally tapping it with his wand as he muttered quietly.

Hermione waited impatiently for him to grow bored of being insulted until she noticed that he was casting detection spells at it. "What are you doing?" she asked in alarm. While she knew from her own tests that detection spells were more or less useless in examining the Marauder's Map, the amount of spells laid on the thing made trying to decipher which ones were used a little like trying to read someone's messy handwriting after a dozen other people had written over it, but the Marauder's themselves took offense to it. Last time she tried it had refused to work for a week.

"Oh nothing important," Harry replied casually, hardly looking up at her as he continued, "just taking a look at your little map here."

Hermione felt her jaw drop, her worry of the Marauder's restricting their access forgotten. "But... It's not...How...?" she asked, her mind having trouble forming full sentences. How could he possibly know?

Meanwhile Harry had looked up from his work, "Wow, I never thought I'd see Hermione Granger speechless," he said teasingly, "I've lived in the same dorm and gone to most of the same classes as Weasley and Longbottom for the last five years, did you really think I didn't know about the Marauder's Map? They aren't exactly discreet."

She scowled, but couldn't deny his comment. She loved her best friends, but Merlin knew they sometimes had trouble keeping their mouths shut. "But then why bother asking how I found you?"

"Wanted to see how you would react," Harry replied with a shrug, "besides, you would have been on your guard and it wouldn't have been so easy to borrow this," he said, motioning to the map in front of him. "You know, I've been waiting for two years to take a look at this thing."

"Well you've seen it, now give it back," she said, extending her hand expectantly.

"Patience is a virtue Granger," he said, pulling another roll of parchment from his pocket and placing it next to the map. "Why don't you go do one last walk through the school like you wanted, I'll catch up to you in a few minutes."

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me back that Map," she replied stubbornly.

"Fine, just sit in the corner and be quiet for a little while," he said distractedly as he cast a number of complicated looking charms. He was so fixated on his work he didn't even notice that she had drawn her wand until the Map was flying out from under his nose. "Hey!" he exclaimed loudly, "What the–" he had no time to move as he looked up just in time to see a silencing spell hit him.

However rather than get angry and attempt to shout at her as Ron would, or silently plead with her in an effort to convince her to remove the charm as Neville would, Harry just watched her quietly, a look of mild annoyance on his face. "You know what, if you want to spend your night hiding away in an abandoned classroom be my guest, but this," she gestured to him with the map, "doesn't belong to you," she said, failing to notice the smile that crossed his lips. "Now I'm going back to the tower and if you're not back in ten minutes I'm going to bed and you can find someone else to _Finite_ that spell." She turned on her heel in a huff and headed towards the door, having had enough of trying to deal with Potter for the night. She made it a total of two steps before she pitched forward, almost landing straight on her face as both her wand and the map flew from her grip.

She pushed herself over and sat up to find Potter grinning at her, waving both her wand and the map at her in his left hand, his right occupied by his own wand. Seeing her look at him, he tapped his wand to his throat, "Where, oh where will I ever find someone to release me from such an extraordinary silencing spell?" he asked, the very definition of a shit eating grin plastered across his face, "Oh woe is me, will I ever be able to speak again?" He shook his head with a laugh, "Really Granger, a silencing charm?" he asked, sounding almost disappointed in her, "I thought you learned your lesson at the Ministry."

She ground her teeth in anger as she realized his point. She had just made the same mistake that had almost gotten her killed less than three months ago, she should have known better. Then again, she hadn't exactly expected him to already be able to cast silently, they hadn't even had their first class on the subject yet. "Give them back," she growled, putting as much menace into her voice as she could.

Rather than be intimidated however, Harry just grinned in amusement, "Aww, aren't you cute when you're angry?" he asked teasingly, causing her cheeks to flush once again, whether out of anger or embarrassment she wasn't sure. "I'll tell you what Granger, I'll give you back your wand, you can go do the last of your rounds and when you get back I'll give you back your map."

"I don't think so Potter," she said, striding forward with the intention of taking back both the map and her wand. It was bad enough that he knew about the map, she wasn't about to let him tinker with it. "That map doesn't belong to you and I'm not going to risk letting you ruin it just because you suddenly think you're allowed to do whatever you – AHH!" she screamed, falling backwards as one of the desks in front of her suddenly changed into a large black dog and tackled her.

With no wand she panicked, covering her face with her arms as she fell to the ground. Her mind raced as she tried to think of some way of fighting it off, only to realize after a moment that other than knocking her down, it hadn't actually hurt her. Opening her hands to look at her assailant, she had just enough time to see pink before it's long tongue darted in between her hands, leaving a wet line from her chin to her forehead. She was so shocked, that she let her arms fall for just a moment, giving the over-sized mutt free reign to slobber all over her face before she regained her composure well enough to try to push it off. "Potter, get your damn dog off me!" she shrieked, trying in vain to push the massive dog off from on top of her.

The dog however seemed to think she was playing and darted around her, trying to lick her face again until Harry finally called him back. "Padfoot, enough!" he called, allowing Hermione to get to her feet, glaring at him as she did. "Sorry about that," he said as the overgrown mongrel trotted happily towards him, "Padfoot's still thinks he's a puppy at times."

"Padfoot?" she asked, wiping the slobber from her face as she did.

Harry shrugged in response, "I thought he looked like a Padfoot."

"And what do you need a dog for? Are you going to sic it on me if I try to take back my map?"

"No, of course not, Padfoot wouldn't hurt a..." he hesitated for a moment, rethinking what he had been about to say, "well he wouldn't hurt _you_. He's here to keep you company on your patrol while I make a few adjustments to this old relic."

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere without that map," she replied stubbornly. She had no intention of leaving the map with him, not only was it too valuable to risk letting him ruin it, Neville and Ron would kill her.

"Really?" he asked, the mischievous smile on his face making him look almost like a third Weasley twin, "I bet I can change your mind."

"Really, and how do you plan to do that?" Hermione demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. While she wouldn't hesitate to let him keep the bloody thing if he told her where Black and Lupin were hiding, she had the feeling that he had no intention of doing so.

"Easy," he replied calmly, before tossing her wand clear over her head. "Fetch." Hermione was so shocked that she didn't even move as her wand sailed over her to fall with a clatter on the ground. She turned just in time to watch in horror as Padfoot shot past her, catching her wand in his teeth as it bounced off the floor.

Moving quickly she tried to tackle the dog before it could run off, but it dodged her with ease, shooting under her outstretched arms and out the door. "I swear Potter, if your dog puts even one scratch in my wand..." she snarled furiously.

Rather than be intimidated however, Harry just grinned in amusement, "He looks pretty attached to it, are you sure you couldn't do without it?" he asked teasingly, laughing as she barred her teeth at him. The only thing stopping her from lunging at him and trying to strangle him with her bare hands was her wand getting further from her by the second. "No? Well in that case you might want to go after him. I've never had a problem with Padfoot chewing anything before, but you know how puppies can get when they're bored..."

Hermione bolted from the class to find Padfoot at the end of the hall, leaning forward so that his front paws were stretched out in front of him, his bum sticking straight up in the air, tail wagging back and forth in anticipation. Seeing her exit the classroom, he quickly snatched her wand up from where it had been laying in front of him, taking off down the corridor at full speed. With one last glance at the class behind her and a silent promise to make Potter pay, Hermione sprinted after him.


End file.
